Video

Main Page > Documentation > Media type preservation plans > Video

Preservation Format

MPEG-2/WAVE

Access Format

MPEG-1/MP2

Normalization tool

FFmpeg

Comments

• Video stream will be converted to MPEG-2 with Intra-coded (I) frames; audio stream will be converted to LPCM with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sampling frequency of 48000 HZ; wrapper format is MXF (Material Exchange Format).
• According to Library of Congress, "For file-based compressed video, conform to or approximate MPEG-2_422 (4:2:2 Profile) at Main Level (aka MPEG-2 422@ML) or MPEG-2_MP (Main Profile) at Main Level (aka MPEG-2 MP@ML). Uncompressed or losslessly compressed copies are preferred to compressed (for future development)." Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: MPEG-2 Video Encoding (H.262)
• For preservation of audio streams, WAV PCM or WAV BWF are preferred formats and AIFF is acceptable. See Guidelines for the Creation of Digital Collections: Digitization Best Practices for Audio, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, 2009, p. 2.
• More information
  • More information on the Material Exchange Format (MXF) is available at Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: MXF
  • Digital Video Preservation Reformatting Project,Prepared by Media Matters, LLC for the Dance Heritage Coalition, Presented to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, June 2004
  • Arts and Humanities Data Service Preservation Handbook: Moving Image, Gareth Night, 2005
  • WP2 - Preservation Strategies, Richard Wright, PrestoPRIME WP2 BBC Research & Development, UK, 2009
  • A Primer on Codecs for Moving Image and Sound Archives: 10 Recommendations for Codec Selection and Management. Chris Lacinak, AudioVisual Preservation Solutions. 2010

Motion JPEG 2000

• Motion JPEG 2000 (MJPEG2K) is emerging as a preferred format for video files. See for example:
  • UKOLN Multimedia standards: MJ2
  • Lossless Video Compression for Archives: Motion JPEG2k and Other Options, Ian Gilmour, National Film and Sound Archive, Australia, R. Justin Dávila, System Architect and Technology Consultant, Media Matters LLC, date unknown
• Support for MJPEG2K as a preservation format will be added to Archivematica when a suitable open-source tool that does reliable MJPEG2K conversions becomes available.